This is a continuation of our list from last month of tips for making sure your applications get done a fast as possible. While this list is not a guarantee of expediency, it will save you, your applicant and your screening company plenty of wasted time.

While automation tempts landlords with low prices, they offer low-quality screening fraught with incomplete information, outdated employment and criminal records, secretive methods, extra fees, and risks of Fair Housing Non-Compliance. In contrast, Bemrose agents are thorough, knowledgeable, adaptable, and communicative— putting in extra work to ensure you never have to worry about who is coming through your doors.

Discover what happens from application to completed screening report. Learn how clerks, screeners, and reviewers ensure accuracy, compliance, and trust.

If we do not have enough information to obtain rental or employment details, we may have to reach out to you or the applicant for assistance. This results in delays for client, screener, and applicant with time that could have been better dedicated to obtaining references.

Bemrose Consulting agents are proficient at uncovering information applicants may not disclose, but the process hinges on knowledge of every iteration of their name. Misspellings or missing aliases may lead to overlooked details that can affect both landlord and applicant.

An applicant’s level of income is a fundamental factor in their screening process as it proves their ability to afford rent. Many employers will not verify income so the paystub and bank or tax statement statements are vital to our process.

Traditionally, a cosigner has been used when an applicant does not have established credit and/or rental history. Some landlords allow a cosigner is used for someone who has very low income. Rarely is a cosigner used to cover negative rental and/or negative credit.

Criminal history is a key aspect of the tenant screening process and at Bemrose Consulting we pride ourselves in finding all charges a potential renter has on their record. We do this by searching every state the applicant has been and, if available, the counties they resided in as well.

More often than we would like, in the screening process, a divide starts to grow between us at Bemrose and our clients. Our responsibility to our clients is to provide as much information as possible about prospective tenants.

In the business of tenant screening not many things are more important than security. A lot of information is shared when someone applies for a property and keeping that information secure is a top priority.

One of the most common issues we face in tenant screening is what applicants don’t take the time to fully and properly fill out their applications. This might seem like something people would be able to figure out but for whatever reason, it absolutely is not.

We like to think of sex offenders as an issue that not many people have to deal with or think about on a daily basis, but unfortunately that is just not the case. The unfortunate truth is that sex offenders live amongst us in greater numbers than most of us would like to believe.

With so many employers choosing to utilize third-party verifiers or only verifying through HR, getting a performance reference on an applicant can be hard, bordering on impossible. This is where personal references come into play.

Google up “online background check” and you will find pages of results for sites boasting that they will save you time and money weeding out bad renters or job applicants using national searches. What these sites fail to tell you is what national searches they are using or how they get any of their information.